Is there any such thing? Let's investigate—for good or ill. A blog about fiction and literature, philosophy and theology, politics and law, science and culture, the environment and economics, and ethics and language, and any thing else that strikes our fancy. (Apologies to Bertrand Russell)

08 August 2015

Once again, my lovelies, I must away—this time to visit son Wisdomie. It's doubtful I'll be posting for the next couple weeks. I may have the opportunity to tweet (if you're following me look for pics!). If you notice a pin drop on your blog's hits stats map somewhere out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, never fear! it will most likely be mine. So, it will be the next two weeks in water for Jim H. Until then, there are plenty of links in my previous "This Week in Water" post to keep you worried. And let's hope we don't make news like we did a couple years back when we dove Lehua off Ni'ihau.

And not to worry, Bruno, Lily, and Sasha have will have plenty of company here to look after them while we're away.

An invasive species of microbial alga has taken up residence inside the cells of Caribbean coral animals improving their ability to withstand heat stresses from the global rise in ocean temperature but retarding their reef-building capabilities.

I know I keep beating this drum, but here's another approach to desalinating sea water with solar power. [Aside: Seriously, finding the right technology to accomplish this task is a superhighway to becoming famously wealthy and saving the planet. Doing well by doing good! There are plenty of investment opportunities out there for us little guys, as well.]

05 August 2015

The last two legs of Road Trip 2015 took us 216.4 miles from Williams, AZ, to Las Vegas and then, two days later, 270.3 miles to Los Angeles, two relatively light days of driving.

En route to Vegas we detoured through Sedona, AZ, via Oak Creek Canyon. The drive is considered one of the top five most beautiful in the country by Rand McNally. I will not disagree. Sedona is a cute, new-Agey sort of oasis purportedly rife (apparently like Woodstock, NY) with cosmic "vortexes" (sic) that provide positive energy to its visitors. We had a nice sandwich there.

Near Vegas we stopped at Hoover Dam, a 1930s monument to slide-rule engineering, hydraulic energy, and BIG Government. The water levels were way down.

In Las Vegas, I avoided the impulse to gamble, slept late, enjoyed a few decent meals, and took in the sights while Wisdaughter & partner caught up with old friends who live there (+ whatever).

On I-15 on the Nevada/California border, we topped a hill and saw what looked like three gigantic Eye of Sauron towers guarding the valley floor surrounded by a vast mirage of a body of water. Turns out, it's the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, the largest solar array in the country—another monument to BIG Government renewable energy production. Thousands of solar panel mirrors spread over five square miles focus the sun's light on the 500' tall tower tops, and this reflects on cars driving by. [Sorry no pics. If you're interested, check out the linked website.]

We made a tactical mistake attempting to drive from Vegas to LA on Sunday morning. Turns out, it's when everybody from SoCal does the same thing after a weekend of debauchery. We drove I-15 through the Mojave Desert in a perpetual traffic jam which was made worse because it had been closed the day before by wild fires. Fortunately, the fires were doused by the remnants of Hurricane Delores which dumped a single day record rainfall on SoCal, smashing as well the monthly record for July in a mere few hours. Flooded desert did not, however, put a sizable dent in the record drought. Unfortunately, the heavy rainfall and dark, low clouds slowed traffic down even more than usual, turning what should have been a four-hour drive into about an eight-hour ordeal. Literally, the only rainfall we encountered on the entire trip was one of the driest places in America, and it was "super historic".

Notwithstanding, we delivered Wisdaughter, her partner, and their cars safely to LA and U.S.C., got them moved in, had a brief look-see downtown, enjoyed a couple of good meals (Izakaya, yo!), hit up IKEA, constructed some furniture, and flew home, sadder but richer for the experience.